The Method
and Other Stories
Will be published approx. on 1. November 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-1-84471-804-7 (ISBN)
Description
Winner of the 2011 Edge Hill Readers' Prize
The characters in this award-winning debut collection are very good at losing things: children, lovers, hope, the plot. They discover the past is not a place easily escaped from, as it pursues them with startling, sometimes horrifying, consequences.
A writer takes his research a little too far; a couple, stricken with guilt and grief, prepare a last meal; a group of swingers is rocked by the arrival of a new couple; a man takes a train journey to learn how to kill again; a deformed brother and sister exact revenge half a mile underground; a modern-day messiah astonishes a criminal gang, and a father is forever tormented by the few minutes his back was turned.
It's impossible not to connect with these lives and the things that happen to them remaining with you long after reading. Provocative and bold, these stories will get under your skin.
The characters in this award-winning debut collection are very good at losing things: children, lovers, hope, the plot. They discover the past is not a place easily escaped from, as it pursues them with startling, sometimes horrifying, consequences.
A writer takes his research a little too far; a couple, stricken with guilt and grief, prepare a last meal; a group of swingers is rocked by the arrival of a new couple; a man takes a train journey to learn how to kill again; a deformed brother and sister exact revenge half a mile underground; a modern-day messiah astonishes a criminal gang, and a father is forever tormented by the few minutes his back was turned.
It's impossible not to connect with these lives and the things that happen to them remaining with you long after reading. Provocative and bold, these stories will get under your skin.
Reviews / Votes
I admired the sheer style of the writing, as well as the wryness and authority of the narrative voice. I kept reading out of admiration for the prose (particularly the dialogue). -- Will Atkins * MacMillan New Writing * Vowler is not afraid to be new, to be dangerous with it and flaunt his talent. Composed beautifully and saturated with insight and compassion. -- The Short ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84471-804-7 (9781844718047)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tom Vowler is an award-winning novelist and short story writer living in the UK. His debut story collection, The Method, won the Scott Prize and the Edge Hill Readers' Prize, while his novels What Lies Within and That Dark Remembered Day received critical acclaim. He is an associate lecturer in creative writing at Plymouth University, where he completed his PhD. His second collection of stories, Dazzling the Gods, was published in 2018. More at www.tomvowler.co.uk
Content
The Method
Seeing Anyone?
Delivering the Newbies
The Last Supper
Busy. Come. Wait.
They May Not Mean to but They Do
Old Enough
There Are New Birthdays Now
Staring at the Sun
The Little Man
Meet Martin
Homecoming
Hare's Running
Breathe
Offline
One Story
Reload
Team Build
New Model
Extracts of Love
The Arrival
Seeing Anyone?
Delivering the Newbies
The Last Supper
Busy. Come. Wait.
They May Not Mean to but They Do
Old Enough
There Are New Birthdays Now
Staring at the Sun
The Little Man
Meet Martin
Homecoming
Hare's Running
Breathe
Offline
One Story
Reload
Team Build
New Model
Extracts of Love
The Arrival